£2m imediate cut in Council budget, What do YOU think is an acceptable place start? Options

[spartacus]

£2m slashed off the WBC budget

£2m must now be found from this years Council budget that the bean counters can pull the plug on..... the sort of areas that can be described as 'nice to have, but not essential services' perhaps.....

What advice can you give the WBC exchequer on best places to start with, with their slash and burn policy?

One small area to start with:
I reckon that the libraries can stop loaning DVDs and music CDs. By loaning out DVDs they are competing against the local Blockbusters and they're putting severe strain on them. It must also cost quite a bit keeping the list up to date. Same thing with the CDs, which people just use to load and copy without going to a shop and actually BUY a CD.

One larger scale saving:
Look at the number of contractors working for WBC in areas such as planning and highways. ENORMOUS figures being paid out to the agencies involved. Might have to be selective, as the cuts mustn't affect frontline services.... but they've GOT to look closely at this area........


(EDIT - The title SHOULD of course read 'immediate' and 'place TO start', but I cannot edit the title.... I'm normally such a perfeckshonist)

[Iommi]

If only we hadn't cobbled the town centre and put the money in the bank instead... that'd cover the bill on its own! Isn't the library subsidy £500,000? Granted that is over several years, but I don't see making Terminator XIII:Reloaded v Predator in 3D available to viewers as an essential service.

[user23]

As I understand it, this is cash that's already been earmarked to be spent and in some cases already spent as it's from this year's budget that started in April. There'll be more cuts to come as the article suggests, detailed in the emergency budget.

I imagine 'nice to have, but not essential services' covers things like the Nature Discovery Centre (and other leisure based activities) which potentially could close or be sold off, though funding to help keep it going is currently being looked at by a small charge for parking during the day.

If only we hadn't cobbled the town centre and put the money in the bank instead... that'd cover the bill on its own!

Not sure if they were allowed to do that, given the source of the money.

[Iommi]

I imagine 'nice to have, but not essential services' covers things like the Nature Discovery Centre (and other leisure based activities) which potentially could close or be sold off, though funding to help keep it going is currently being looked at by a small charge for parking during the day.

Yes, a 'nice' opportunity for the council to 'bury bad news'. Although, I'm sure that the cash amounts you are talking about here are small. We need big ideas, like flogging Monks Lane or something.

[x2lls]

Nothing like a good recession to make those responsible for wasting millions of our tax money finally wake up and make every penny count. Quote 'Currently the council is sharing its Trading Standards service with Wokingham Borough Council, making a joint saving of £500,000, and Mr Jones said officers were currently exploring other ways of making similar savings.'

Why has it taken an emergency to start looking at all this? It's about bl$$dy time.

[user23]

Why has it taken an emergency to start looking at all this? It's about bl$$dy time.

I imagine some of the "nice to have, but not essential" things they're looking at would only be considered in a "emergency".

[Strafin]

I imagine 'nice to have, but not essential services' covers things like the Nature Discovery Centre (and other leisure based activities) which potentially could close or be sold off, though funding to help keep it going is currently being looked at by a small charge for parking during the day.Not sure if they were allowed to do that, given the source of the money.

Sell it off then. If I'm going to pay for parking I'd like to pay it someone who might the run the place properly, rather than WBC.

[On the edge]

We'll need a carefully managed austerity regime. It can be done, with some sharp management and a very careful eye on the bank account. For sudents of political history - look no further than E. Davis book 'History of First berkshire County Council'. Not one penny was spend that didn't need to be under the Chairman Skurray. If we simply went straight in and simply shed staff - that's actually a cost, redundancy pay for one. So where to start - 1) close attention to processes, 2) no discressionary expenditure 3) link up with others where possible.

[x2lls]

So I ask again,


Why has it taken an emergency to start looking at all this? If improvements can be made now, then why not before? because of the luxury of spending other peoples cash.........

[user23]

So I ask again,


Why has it taken an emergency to start looking at all this? If improvements can be made now, then why not before? because of the luxury of spending other peoples cash.........

As I said, I imagine some of the "nice to have, but not essential" things they're looking at cutting would only be considered in a "emergency".

Remember that a private company already tried to run things for twenty five years and pulled out after seven or so because as I understand it, they couldn't make savings to make it profitable. Since then there have been even more cuts with Gershon and the like.

So the answer to your question is, cuts already have been made back to the bone in some cases, now they're going to have to look at losing a few unessential appendages.

[On the edge]

And this isn't the end. Have a nasty suspicion that the BP debacle is likely to cost us one way or another.

[Jayjay]

And this isn't the end. Have a nasty suspicion that the BP debacle is likely to cost us one way or another.

Could you expand your theory as I dont understand. I assume you mean BP in America - why would WBC pay anything towards this?

[user23]

Could you expand your theory as I dont understand. I assume you mean BP in America - why would WBC pay anything towards this?

I assume he means the national government may have to bail out BP (as they did the banks) and then local government have to make cuts to pay for it, as they are having to do now.

[x2lls]

I assume he means the national government may have to bail out BP (as they did the banks) and then local government have to make cuts to pay for it, as they are having to do now.

In addition, BP, amongst others are the basis of a great number of pension funds.

[spartacus]

Sell it off then. If I'm going to pay for parking I'd like to pay it someone who might the run the place properly, rather than WBC.

I think it's run quite well TBH. Well organised for day visits with the toddlers and has regular stuff on during evenings such as the astronomy club.. (have you actually visitted it Strafin? )

Anyways... who do you think would come in to buy the place? Centre Parcs? The Berkshire branch of Alton Towers? If the Nature Discovery Centre was to be sold off to anyone in the private sector, (it's not going to happen as there's no money in it) do you think for a moment that it could survive on the few people willing to shell out ONE measly pound for parking?

Why has it taken an emergency to start looking at all this? If improvements can be made now, then why not before? because of the luxury of spending other peoples cash.........

Because us residents of Berkshire have come to expect, nay ... DEMAND, some of these 'luxuries' and have come to see them as all part of the service....

"I pays my Council Tax and I want to have all the latest CDs and DVDs in my library so I can borrow and copy them...."
<insert any other 'luxury' we've all become accustomed to over the years....> They're all for the chop...


Oh... and my relatives live in the Westfields area. Rumour going round that the £25 charge they pay for permits is going up to £40. Now THAT isn't going to be popular.

[spartacus]

I assume he means the national government may have to bail out BP (as they did the banks) and then local government have to make cuts to pay for it, as they are having to do now.

No chance of central govt bailing out BP.

Despite that idiot in the White House's protestations, the company ISN'T 'British' Petroleum, it's 'BP (BEYOND Petroleum)'. It's a global company... If it becomes so fragile that it looks like it will fail (it won't) then it needs GLOBAL finance to dig it's hands in it's pockets (including american institutions...!) to save it...

[Iommi]

"I pays my Council Tax and I want to have all the latest CDs and DVDs in my library so I can borrow and copy them...."
<insert any other 'luxury' we've all become accustomed to over the years....> They're all for the chop...

Hmm, I'm not sure that the library is a luxury we've all become accustomed. Could you give any other examples because I can't think of much, well, not anything that WBC aren't obliged to pay for already, things like the cinema and the almost extravagant waste disposal systems. Public lavatories?

[spartacus]

hmmm... perhaps we're already cut to the bone and there's no slack....

What about speeding up (I mean full steam ahead towards a Berkshire Blackout) the programme of cutting off street lighting on the roads after midnight.. 'Tis a luxury we can do without under the new austerity measures... We don't NEED lighting while most of us are tucked up in bed.... (most of our villages have none)

[Iommi]

Good points. The first thing we would need is a price list. How much does everything cost? Until we see this, we cannot possibly say.

[DrPepper]

£400,000 has been "ring-fenced" for a footbridge over the canal in Hungerford. An obvious place to start and a nice chunk taken out of the 1.8 million.